The UConn School of Pharmacy Pharm.D. Class of 2023 has selected Dr. Cassie Doyno as its 2023 School of Pharmacy Teacher of the Year. Doyno is an assistant clinical professor at UConn in the Department of Pharmacy Practice. She will receive her award over commencement weekend.
She joined the UConn faculty in the fall of 2019 and was challenged in her first full year of teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. Her clinical site is currently at the Emergency Department at John Dempsey Hospital at UConn Health in Farmington, where she teaches fourth-year advanced pharmacy practice experience students.
Doyno graduated from UConn herself in 2015 with a Pharm.D. degree.
“I am truly honored by this recognition and would not be able to succeed at UConn without the amazing support from my mentors and peers,” says Doyno. “I am so grateful I chose this career path and got to come back and be a part of the UConn School of Pharmacy faculty.”
Her research currently focuses on impacts of pharmacists in the emergency department setting and utilization of simulation in the pharmacy curriculum, both in didactic and experiential settings.
“I am overjoyed to hear that Dr. Doyno was selected of this award,” says C. Michael White, Pharm.D., who is the head of the Department of Pharmacy Practice. “She goes above and beyond normal expectations to help our students be successful and I am glad they gave her the most votes this year. Over the time the Pharm.D. Class of 2023 has been in the School of Pharmacy, Dr. Doyno taught them about critical care medication and clinical toxicology of drugs, and took them on clinical rotations in the Emergency Department at UConn Health.
“She had clear expectations, worked to refine her lectures and experiential offerings so they were demanding but with strong support so they could succeed, and was always there to help students struggling in and out of the classroom. This year, Dr. Doyno and other faculty in the School of Pharmacy ran voluntary sessions with students interested in postgraduate residencies and fellowships to better navigate the process.
“A couple of years ago, Dr. Doyno worked with the Department of Public Health to train COVID-19 immunizers across the state. She brought students and taught them how to teach others and as a team made a major contribution to Connecticut’s successful rollout. She then volunteered for immunization events where she oversaw the pharmacy students who were there that day. In this way, students could emulate the way that she provided strong value to the health care team and supported the patients coming in for care. For these and countless other selfless acts, she is more than deserving of this recognition this year.”
A native of central Massachusetts, Doyno completed two years of post-graduate pharmacy residency training at UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester, Mass.
“I owe much of my success to the students,” says Doyno. “I have been lucky to work with amazing students whose motivation and enthusiasm to learn is a key driving force in what motivates me. Forming connections within the classroom and seeing them progress through clinical rotations and further into their careers is the most rewarding aspect of being a faculty member.”
